Accolades
On March 8, 2017, Tracy Windley of Sew Elegant Fine Window Designs, was the recipient of the prestigious VISION Design and Workroom Award presented at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC.
The VISION Design and Workroom Competition, presented and sponsored by Window Fashion VISION Magazine, recognizes the industry’s best designs and fabrications in a variety of categories. This one-of-a-kind international competition is the “Academy Awards” of the window coverings industry.
Tracy was honored with First Place Awards in three separate categories including, Top Treatments, Bedding & Pillows, and Slipcovers & Upholstery.
First Place Top Treatments
Our client had just received the news that she would be a grandmother! This was all the motivation she needed to repurpose the east wing of the home into a guest suite and playroom.
The east wing consisted of three bedrooms and a former study area for her three sons. Our focus for this project was the study area. Custom closets were added for storage and space was cleared out for a changing table and crib. And of course a perfect table and chair set was added for afternoons of coloring and tea. The play area had two opposing windows; a single window and a triple window. One issue we had to consider in the design phase as to address the intense sunlight coming in which made the area very hot.
The client also wanted to maintain the view of the backyard and have the option of room darkening for naptimes. All of these concerns had to be addressed while maintaining the traditional style of the home. The final design consisted of a woven grass shade (light filtering), operable blackout drapery panels, and an upholstered cornice with a scalloped bottom. A beautiful linen chinoiserie from Duralee was the perfect foundation with wood bead trim by Kravet to embellish the drapery panels and bronze nailheads to accent the cornices. The designer chose a specific motif from the fabric to feature on the cornices.
The challenge for the workroom was to create a divide between the three sections on the large cornice without drawing attention to the divide. This was achieved with self-cord and upholstering each section separately. The challenge with the single cornice was the crown molding impeded the ceiling mount. We addressed this in the initial building of the cornice with cutouts both in the top board and the return board.
The design flowed beautifully and the client was thrilled!
First Place Bedding & Pillows
The vision presented by my clients for their daughters’ bedrooms was one of simplicity and English elegance.
They had two daughters close in age but with very different personalities. These rooms needed to reflect their individuality while maintaining balanced flow from room to room. It also needed to span the seasons of growth from childhood to lady hood!
It was quite a tall order but we were up for the challenge! This was a perfect setting for bed coronas. The first item to address in our Blue Eleanor was the blending of all the different heights and angles from the windows and bed corona in this century old home.
We wanted to create a pleasing eye line across the room. We chose a smocked corona for our Blue Eleanor using a classic Duralee toile and lined with a Brunschig & Fil blue and cream check. The lead edges of the smocked panels were adorned with a beautiful Novel tassel trim and for an extra touch of elegance we placed the tassel trim on both the inner and outer lead edges of the panels.
One request made by the client was that we kept the fullness of the bed panels to a minimum in order to appreciate the toile scenes.
We were able to create a beautiful smocking pattern without using the standard fullness of most smocking. We chose to keep the bed pillows simple and elegant. The toile shams featured a knife pleated ruffle and also highlighted a different scene on each side. The bolster featured a double layer of the tassel trim and button detail. A custom tailored dust skirt highlighted a favorite scene and brought just the right touch of color to complete the room.
First Place Slipcovers
My client absolutely loves hand-printed linen textiles, as do I. While working on her Family Room project, we found the perfect collection from Peter Dunham Textiles.
The balance of color hues and patterns of the fabrics provided a comfortable elegance for the room. To complete the setting, the client wanted her favorite reading chair outfitted with a custom slipcover. The fabric chosen however presented a bit of a challenge in the design and fabrication of the slipcover.
Peter Dunham‘s line sets itself apart with gorgeous borders that compliment the main pattern.
These beautiful borders are printed along one edge of the overall design limiting both the amount of border available to work with as well as decreasing the width of the main pattern.
“We were able to take a fabulous fabric and a wonderful chair and marry the two to create a stunning piece that can be enjoyed for many years.”
We wanted to highlight the use of the border in the overall design without compromising the amount of fabric needed for the body of the chair. Through the use of self-welt, I was able to construct the body with more narrow cuts maximizing the yardage of the main pattern.
A hidden zipper was placed along one of the corded seams to allow for easy removal. The border was given a place of honor both in the boxing of the seat cushion and the knife pleated ruffle. The ruffle was pleated to pattern to highlight the botanical design.